Yaura Sasa is a Papua New Guinean retired army colonel who led the failed 2012 Defence Force mutiny on 26 January 2012. [1] Sasa and approximately 20 PNG soldiers seized control of the main administrative compound in the Defence Force Headquarters, Murray Barracks located within the capital Port Moresby. The group, led by Sasa, also briefly captured the commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi and placed him under house arrest along with other higher-ranking officers. [1]
The mutiny was related to a dispute over the prime ministership between Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill which had begun in December 2011 when the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ordered that Somare be reinstated as the prime minister while the country's National Parliament supported O'Neill. Sasa led the mutiny with the goal of reinstating Sir Michael Somare as prime minister. [1]
Sasa was arrested and charged with mutiny on 28 January 2012. [1] He was located in a Port Moresby suburb, and was reportedly taken into custody at a police station voluntarily. [1] The charge against Sasa was struck out by the Committal Court on 1 August 2012 on the grounds that police prosecutors had not submitted any evidence to substantiate it. [2]
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The People's National Congress is a political party in Papua New Guinea. Its former leader Bill Skate served as Prime Minister from 1997 to 1999 and as speaker of Parliament from 2002 to 2004. Skate died in 2006 and the party was led by Peter O'Neill until 2022. PNC originated from the National Capital District where former leader was the Governor of NCD and the Parliamentary Member. The party had 16 members in the 113-seat National Parliament of Papua New Guinea as of December 2022.
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The 2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny took place on 26 January 2012 when a group of military personnel headed by retired Colonel Yaura Sasa took the commander of the defence force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi, prisoner. The mutiny was related to a dispute over the prime ministership between Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill which had begun in December 2011 when the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ordered that Somare be reinstated as the prime minister while the country's parliament supported O'Neill.
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